Shortly after New Year Judo for fred was contacted by Raphaela Kübler, who was a student at The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva. Raphaela worked on a Master’s thesis in International Affairs, where she examined three core questions:

How can peace education, sports for peace and development, and traditional martial arts become uniformly conceptualized?

Why are martial arts especially suitable as a tool for non-formal peace education?

Are there any differences between martial arts styles? If yes, which school or style fits best with the purpose of long-term peace education?

The annual Judo for fred members’ meeting was held on 7 february. The board’s report for 2016 was presented and approved, and a new board was elected. The sitting president still has one year remaining of his two-year term, while the rest of the board was elected for one year.

Judo for fred (JFF) held its annual partner meeting 2 and 3 March, this time in Kabul. JFF Norway was represented by Ole Moland and Birgit Ryningen. The Afghan project coordinators presented their respective projects, and we are thoroughly impressed. JFF supports 5 projects in Afghanistan: two projects for street children, one orphanage, one girls’ project and one project for youths in Kabul. The judo activity is very high, and we are impressed with how far the money go. Continue reading Partner meeting in Kabul→

Judo for fred are now on Instagram! Follow us @judo_for_fred and feel free to share your own judo photos with us by tagging them with @judo_for_fred. We would very much like to see your photos, on or off the mat – cool techniques, sweaty gis, happy faces, and the values of judo in practice.

Judo Barahe Solha (meaning judo for peace in Dari), the Afghan Judo for fred (JFF) board, has held its first tournament. The tournament was held in the dojo at the Kabul stadium, which is funded by JFF/Norad, and was held in cooperation with the Afghan Judo Federation. Around 100 players under the age of 16 participated in weight categories from 25 to 60 kg. The leader of Judo Barahe Solha, Zabi Na, tells us: “The main purpose of this tournament was peace. Everyone needs peace.” JFF in Norway send our best regards and congratulations to all the participants and the organizers!

Marit Øvstedal and yours truly recently spent a week in Kabul, from 17 to 23 February. The purpose of our short stay was to check up on all of JFF’s activities, visit the dojos we’ve financed, meet the judo practicioners, and instruct and participate in judo classes… This was a rather optimistic plan, but with packed schedules from 7 AM to 9 PM every day, we were able to reach more or less all of our goals. After such a hectic week we have plenty to relate, but for the sake of brevity, here I’ll just say a few words about about the dojos we’ve built.

Lina Ghani has spent a lot of time and energy trying to get girls’ judo classes up and running, and now her efforts are finally coming to fruition. We at JFF are thrilled at what we’ve achieved together with Lina and SCAWNO, and hope things will continue.